For the last couple of months, I disliked my blog layout. Today, I decided to do something about it.

I realize the medium rectangle for Google AdSense is supposed to be the most effective in the place I had it. Google's samples recommend placement there for the medium and the large rectangles. I found them both obtrusive, even more so after Google changed the ad layout itself. Well, it wasn't very effective on my blog anyway, so I changed it to a horizontal banner and moved it up above the text. I want to know what my pages look like with AND without an ad blocker of any kind and I'm pleased with the results. But that was only one reason to move it. I like to post videos from YouTube and other places (as I get around to it) and the rectangle threw the layout completely out of whack and I had to use a kludge with the CSS to make it halfway presentable. Now I don't need the kludge.

How about the article font size? It was set to 10 pixels. 10 pixels are great if your resolution is no more than 1024×768, and fantastic if set at 800×600. As more and more people (including myself) start using monitors that have a much higher resolution, that 10 pixel font becomes tiny. That's okay for the sidebar links and stuff that you're not going to be focusing on for very long, but not for the text you want to read in the center of the page. I'm surprised no one has complained. I bumped that up to 11 pixels, and it's not too large for my own monitor. If anyone doesn't like it that large, please feel free to comment. Make sure you tell me what resolution you read at and whether you have to wear reading glasses or not (I do not).

I guess the point of all this is about returning visits. I would not want to return to a blog that has obtrusive ads and where the font makes it difficult for me to read. Have you seen the blogs where the font is gray on white instead of black on white? Talk about a headache!

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Blog Appreciation:

Although it would appear to be a Christian blog, the Secret Life of J Radke is much more than that. I invite you to take a look at what he has to say on certain OTHER topics, as well as the Christian topics.